The Imagined, ‘Sinister’ Iranian Threat in Latin America

Reading the text of a bill that was
recently signed into law by US President Barack Obama would
instill fear in the hearts of ordinary Americans.
Apparently, barbarians coming from distant lands are at
work. They are gathering at the US-Mexico border, cutting
fences and ready to wreak havoc on an otherwise serene
American landscape.

Never mind that crazed, armed to the
teeth, homegrown American terrorists are killing children
and terrorizing whole cities. It is the Iranian menace that
we are meant to fear according to the new law. When
compounded with the other imagined threats of Hezbollah and
Hamas, all with sinister agendas, then the time is right for
Americans to return to their homes, bolt their doors and
squat in shelters awaiting further instructions, for
evidently, “The Iranians are coming.”

It is as comical
as it is untrue. But “The Countering Iran in the Western
Hemisphere Act”, which as of Dec. 28 is an official US
law, is not meant to be amusing. It is riddled with
half-truths, but mostly complete and utter lies.

Yes,
Iran’s influence in Latin America is on the rise. However,
by US standards, the expanding diplomatic ties, extending
trade routes and such are considered a threat to be
‘countered’ or per Forbes magazine’s endless wisdom,
‘confronted.’

Language in politics can be very
dangerous as it can misconstrue reality, turning fictitious
scenarios into ‘facts’. Despite its faltering economy,
the US continues to experience a sharp growth in its think
tank industry - men and women whose sole purpose are to
invent and push political agendas, which oftentimes belong
to some foreign entity; in this case it is Israel. Ian
Barman, Vice President of the American Foreign Policy
Council reflected that sentiment exactly in a recent article
in Forbes.

Only in the past year, “policymakers in
Washington have woken up to a new (Iranian) threat to U.S.
security”, he wrote, citing an alleged Iranian
assassination plot in Washington. According to Barman, that
was the wake-up call leading to a “deeply worrisome”
reality. In a moment of supposed level-headedness, he
writes: “exactly how significant this threat is represents
the subject of a new study released in late November by the
U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee.
That report, entitled ‘A Line In The Sand’, documents
the sinister synergies that have been created in recent
years between Iran and Hezbollah on the one hand, and
radical regional regimes and actors—from Venezuela to
Mexican drug cartels—on the other.”

But according to
Agency France Press, reporting on the new law on Dec. 29,
“Washington has repeatedly stated it is closely monitoring
Tehran's activities in Latin America, though senior State
Department and intelligence officials have indicated there
is no apparent indication of illicit activities by
Iran.”

Indeed, on the issue of Iran’s influence in
Latin America there are two contradicting narratives. One
that merely acknowledges Iranians growing diplomatic
outreach in Latin America since 2005 and another that speaks
of massive conspiracies involving Iran, Venezuela, Ecuador,
Bolivia, drug cartels, and yes, even underground music
piracy groups. The alleged conspiracy is not only
far-fetched, it is purposely fabricated to further punish
Iran, on behalf of Israel, for its nuclear program. The
panic over Iran’s ‘infiltration’ of the US
‘neighborhood’ in Latin America, didn’t start a year
ago (as alleged by Barman) but rather coincided with old
Israeli-Western propaganda which pained Iran as a country
ruled by religious fiends whose main hobby is to assemble
bombs and threaten western civilization. When pro-Israeli
think tank ‘experts’ began floating a scenario of
‘what if Iran and Hezbollah join forces with Mexico’s
Los Zetas drug cartel’ a few years ago, the idea seemed
too absurd to compel a rational response. Now it is actually
written into the new bill turned law as if a matter of fact.
(Sec. 2, Findings 12)

The bill doesn’t only lack reason,
proper references and is dotted with a strange amalgam of
politically-inspired accusations, it also relies on
wholesale allegations of little, if any plausible foundation
whatsoever: “Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies with a
presence in Latin America have raised revenues through
illicit activities, including drug and arms trafficking,
counterfeiting, money laundering, forging travel documents,
pirating software and music and providing haven and
assistance to other terrorists transiting the region.”
(Sec 2, Findings 8)

Of course, since the whole exercise is
fueled by Israeli anxiety, Hamas also had to somehow be
pulled in, if not indicted through the same inexplicable
reasoning: “The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
concluded in 2008 that almost one-half of the foreign
terrorist organizations in the world are linked to narcotics
trade and trafficking, including Hezbollah and Hamas.”
(Sec. 2, Findings 10)

US author and journalist, Belen
Fernandez has been looking into this matter for years. In
all of her writings on the topic she seemed to trace the
very thread that unites the invented upheaval over Iran’s
supposed takeover of the ‘Western Hemisphere.’ In an
article entitled: “Distorting Iranian-Latin American
Relations”, nearly two years ago, she wrote: “Iranian
‘penetration’ in Latin America has in recent years
become a pet issue of Israeli Foreign Ministry officials and
American neoconservative pundits, many of whom take offense
at the perceived failure of the U.S. government to
adequately appreciate the security threat posed by, for
example, the inauguration of a weekly flight from Caracas to
Tehran with a stop in Damascus.”

The issue for Israel
and its US conduits is entirely political. Iran is indeed
expanding its political and diplomatic outreach, but
entirely through legal and official means, something that
the US has failed to do since The Monroe Doctrine gave the
US exclusive hegemony over Latin America starting in
December 1823. But much has changed since then, especially
in the last two decades when the US swung towards disastrous
Middle East foreign policies, much to the pleasure of
Israel. The suffering endured by Arabs and Muslims was the
needed break for some Latin American countries to challenge
US policies in their respective countries. This period was
the era in which powerhouses like Brazil rose and popular
governments took the helm. US policies in Latin America are
not failing because of Iranians ‘sinister’ plans, but
because of something entirely different.

Demeaning Latin
America as a hapless region waiting for US saviors and
pinning US political stocks on Iran might serve immediate
Israeli purposes, but it will certainly contribute to the
growing political delusion that permeates Washington. Alas,
there are little indications that Washington politicians are
anywhere near waking up from Israel’s overbearing spell.
Just examine the author of the anti-Iran bill: Rep. Jeff
Duncan of South Carolina's 3rd District. He is a 'freshman',
but has massive ambitions. He joined the Congress in 2011
and quickly learned the ropes. He knows that in order to
succeed on Capitol Hill, one must win favor with the
pro-Israeli lobby. He sponsored the bill on January 3, just
few days before Iranian President went on a major diplomatic
tour in Latin America to expand his country’s
international relations. That alone was unacceptable, for
Latin America has long been designated as the US
‘backyard’, per the belittling perception of US
mainstream media. The trip ignited the ire of Israel, which
media and officials considered a travesty at a time that Tel
Aviv was tirelessly working to isolate Iran. The bill was
clearly a coordinated move, as its language indicates
textbook Israeli hasbara.

Duncan might have been a novice,
but he is quickly catching up. On May 20, he proudly posted
a statement on his House of Representative page that sharply
censures his own president’s remarks on Israel, while
fully supporting the political stances of the leader of
another country, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu. He decried Obama’s siding with the “Hamas-led
government”, thus “undermined(ing) Israel’s position
in the negotiation process.”

“President Obama’s
statement that Israel should retreat to its impossible to
defend 1967 borders breaks a promise to one of our strongest
allies, threatens Israel’s security, and jeopardizes the
future of democracy in the region,” he wrote. Of course,
Duncan wholeheartedly agreed with Netanyahu’s right-wing
policies. “(The Israeli) Prime Minister understands the
hard reality of Israel’s precarious security situation and
daily threats of terrorism. I agree with the Israeli Prime
Minister that President Obama’s position is simply
unrealistic.” He concluded with a very telling statement:
“As a Christian, I ask Americans to continue lifting up
the people of Israel with prayers for safety and the hope
for a lasting peace.”

This strange attitude towards
politics and American national security is the real threat,
not Iranian embassies and water purification projects in
some Latin American countries. But considering the rising
religious zealotry, shrewd Israeli lobby and the numerous
think tanks of catered wisdom, there is little space for
pragmatic politics or sensible approach to anything that
concerns Israel. Thus, Obama enacted the bill into law and
funds have been secured to evaluate Iran’s growing
‘threats’ in ‘America’s backyard’ so that proper
measures are taken to counter the frightening
possibilities.

What Duncan doesn’t know however, is that
Latin America is no longer hostage, neither to the whims of
Washington, nor to his South Carolina’s 3rd District. And
that the ‘Western Hemisphere’ is no longer defined by
the confines of US foreign policies, which seem to be
narrowing each year to meet Israeli expectations and not
those of America.

*************

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an
internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of
PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is: My Father was A
Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story (Pluto
Press).

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